Bruno Fernandes has accepted that he is no longer a core player of Manchester United, and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking to the Portuguese midfielder to play a role as a playmaker in the next Champions League match against Atalanta and the Premier League and Manchester City.
After scoring four goals in the first four rounds of the Premier League, B Fee has not scored for Manchester United for more than a month, and his last goal came from the battle against Newcastle on 11 September, which coincided with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo. Since then, Fernandez has become an assist at Manchester United, delivering five assists in the Premier League and Champions League, and only one behind Pogba in the team's assist list.
Before Cristiano Ronaldo joined, Fernandez was the uncompromising core of the whole team, the whole team was formed around him, he wanted to shoot and get up, and if he wanted to pass, he could also risk straight and long passes. However, with the return of Portugal's big brother, Fernandez's 18-month protagonist identity had to change.
British media revealed that Fernandez had tried to maintain his top star status, including penalties in the main penalty for the Battle of Aston Villa, but he found that with C Ronaldo, he wanted to continue to star in Old Trafford, which was not a good thing, and too eager to grab the camera could lead the team into trouble.
The British "Sun" revealed that after the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool by the Double Red Society, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had a long and arduous conversation with Fernandez, persuading him to think about the team as a whole and play a supporting role.
The data shows that in Manchester United's 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Fernandez played 75 minutes at the new White Hart Lane stadium with zero shots! In contrast, he sent 3 key passes, 65 times in the whole game, and completed 50 passes, which was the first in the team.
United's striker has re-emerged as the most shot-on-the-pitch, with C. Ronaldo making four appearances and Ronaldo 2 appearances and Rashford, who came off the bench, once.
In contrast, in the first round of the season, Manchester United's 5-1 victory in the United battle, B Fei single-handedly shot 4 times, ranking first in the team, and used this to complete the hat-trick. Not only that, in the first three rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United's new core twice ranked first in the team's shooting list, and the other game also ranked in the top three shots on goal.
Now, with the formation changing to 352, Fernandez needs to play his passing skills behind C Ronaldo and Cavani. In the 39th minute, his clever pass helped Ronaldo volley to break the deadlock, thus ensuring victory.
Solskjaer said happily after the match: "Cristiano (Ronaldo's) goal was really beautiful, but Bruno's (Fernandez) pass also showed his quality. I've been following his decisions lately because in some games he's been a bit wasteful and taking too many risks. And if Bruno sees Cristiano, Cavani and Rashford in the right place and chooses to take the risk of passing, it will be more conducive to playing to his strengths."
Fernandez said: "The team is so good, they were important contributors to Saturday's victory, but the strength of our other goalscorers also makes it easy for me to play behind their backs. They have different characteristics and can all score goals... I just have to be behind them, give them a pass supply, make them happy."
The three-centre-back tactic will make it difficult for Pogba to return to the starting line-up after a three-game red card suspension. Because the manager still can't afford to lose, a defeat may bring him back to the brink of graduation, so Fred and McTomine's defensive role is irreplaceable for the French superstar. Among them, Wheat was praised by Solskjaer by name, believing that he was the unknown hero behind the big victory.
"Scott [McTomine], in my opinion, is the best player in the game and we've seen that kind of performance before. He has struggled with a groin injury and surgery this season, but he has been fantastic in this game. He won tackles, pushed us forward, handled?? The ball is simple and effective, it can even be transferred in a wide range, and it can grab the header in the defense of the set-piece, which is definitely a top performance."
Without Pogba in United's main squad, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have needed Fernandez to play a passing and organising role, as none of the McFred combinations had that function, and they could at best provide a back-up run.
Fernandez, who has retreated behind the scenes, is even likely to give up his position as United's top penalty shooter he has been sitting on for a year and a half.
After Fernandez kicked 12 yards that could equal Villa, the British media has already rumored that Cristiano Ronaldo will become the new penalty taker. However, United have not received a penalty since then, and this statement has not been able to be verified.
But the Sun asserted that Fernandez was accustomed to playing the role of "second fiddle" at Manchester United, so it was only natural to give up the penalty to the boss. In Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo was the first choice for penalties.